Head coach Jonathan Trott frustrated after Afghanistan semi final dream ruined in 12 overs

Jonathan, did you, I guess, did you have enough time to recover from the highs of making it to the semi final and that win such a close game and then then just the euphoria and then very little break in between. Did you I guess get enough time to recover? It's obviously not ideal playing the last group game and then playing the first semi final only having a day in between as well. Not not ready to train and but that's not a a reason or an excuse for do you want to can we start that again, please start again. You right, OK, yeah, obviously a playing the last group game and then playing the first semi final isn't ideal. And you know, travel yesterday and and and and and getting here and not really having a day off if you like. But we knew the schedule. So it's not an excuse as such. So to when you go on in World Cups or tournaments, you can't have everything your own way and you've got to fight and and and and play against the odds, which you've done at times and very proud of that. But it's no, it's not a reason why why we didn't win today. I just saw that that clip on Instagram where we just saw the clip on Instagram. Your bus journey, flight journey. The boys were still soaking it in You having watched them from close corners, can you describe how it must have felt for them to make the semifinals? Well, yeah, I think, I think obviously we only got back to hotel at 3:00 and then we had to leave at 8:00 the next five hours later. So we didn't get much sleep. So the guys were obviously very tired and a lot to process really emotionally, physically. So all new, new territory for the guys and you know, it all plays its part I suppose in a way. But you know, we are playing today and I'm sure the guys hopefully learn from from this experience. I think we've obviously gotten 1 better than the previous fifty of the World Cup in November and it's just about taking it step by step and hopefully we learn from today. The bats is certainly what it takes to play international cricket and play against the bowling side like South Africa on a pitch that's perhaps not conducive to high scoring runs and finding ways of of winning games. And we've found ways of winning games. We just couldn't find a way today. Yeah, actually just I wanted to ask you what what actually went wrong after taking betting first because this Port of Spain has become port of suicide for you. I can't hear what you're saying, Sadhguru. Actually, what went wrong after taking winning the toss and taking betting first? Because Port of Spain became port of suicide for the betting of Afghanistan because they came all the way within good performance in the semi final. So the pitch was taking it wrong or something went wrong. This one, well, I just think we just South Africa bowled pretty well and they knew how to bowl in the conditions once they saw how the pitch was behaving. And I just think it's batters we haven't fired really. The middle order hasn't fired enough this World Cup. We've perhaps been a bit too reliant on Kurbas and Ibrahim to get runs. Nobody else has got runs and we need to find a reason for that. We need to get more batters in who are going to score runs and be more consistent like the openers have been and given us a chance in games. So that that's the the project for going forward, certainly in in in all formats as well. 50 over white ball cricket as well, getting middle order batters and top order batters to to like we have at the openers with Ibrahim and Gobas. So that's the the focus for now. And what I take away from this World Cup obviously is too reliant on the openers, maybe Jonathan commiserations first of all, Obviously not the kind of ending to a wonderful World Cup so far. I assume it's a sad dressing room out there right now. But do you think the players realise that they have already defied expectations in this World Cup that they have already over achieved? And how long do you think it would take for them to let this just sink in and go home with their heads held high? I think whenever you lose a game like this, it's always going to hurt, and it should hurt because we put so much into it. There's so many sacrifices made by the players, coaching staff, management, officials, all that sort of stuff. So yeah, obviously it hurts at the moment. We arrived to the ground in high spirits, ready to take on a strong South African side and make sure we gave a good account of ourselves, and I feel like we haven't done that today. So that's the most disappointing thing and I'm very proud of the guys. You know, this one performance doesn't necessarily define the tournament but it also gives us an indication of where we need to work on and what we need to get better at if we're going to be competitive more consistently and who we can rely on, certainly with the bats and who's going to get us over the line, certainly if we have to chase as well. Jonathan, do you think you made a mistake in assessing the wicket in the hindsight to would have been better to go fast? No, Jonathan, you just spoke about, you know, yes, you got to the semi final. You're taking one step at a time like you got you played so well in the 50 over World Cup and you're taking the next step but getting to the semi final so deep. I know it wouldn't have sunk in yet that this defeat, but do you would you look back at this campaign and say we've picked that off? We're in the knockouts. We made it to the knockouts once so we can do it again and just build with that confidence. I think maybe in a couple of weeks time when everything sunk in and you know, motions aren't in it. I think once you're in it and part of a World Cup and you've been here for over 5 weeks preparing for a like a night like tonight, I think it's it's sort of hard to to think like that, but I'm sure we will in a couple of days or a week or so. So it's important that a a match like this doesn't over shadow all the good matches we had that got us to this situation or this position. But it's just nice if we can just find other ways with the bat of winning that. That's what I take and that's what I'll be working on, you know, from tomorrow onwards. I guess you can't take too much away from a match like that, but just this, you can't take too much away from a match like that. But just the spirit of this item. And I saw during the innings break, Rashid Khan was really keen on getting out there and the umpires were holding you guys off waiting for the umpires to come out. There's little signs like that. Do you take from and what was happening out there when you guys were? Well, yeah. Normally what's happened is because teams have gone over with the reviews and over time, that eats into the dinner break. But because we were so short, we had the proper 20 minutes, which felt like half an hour because normally we've only had about 10 minutes because people have gone over and and then there's only a 10 minute break. So we thought it was obviously naturally, instinctively, we've played so many games, it's been quite short. So that's why we're there. But five fell 5 minutes early. So, but anyway, so that, that that's OK. And I think, you know, we, we had our chance. If we'd reviewed Markram, there would have been six for two different game. If we'd got 120, then there was 6 for two, you know, completely different game on that, on that pitch. So they played well and we obviously didn't play too well either. Jonathan, there have been some very interesting pitches all through this World Cup. There have been some interesting pitches all through this World Cup. This one had both uneven bounce and sideways seam movement, which and I'm not, I'm not, you know, I'm not making it sound like an excuse or anything, just from a neutral point of view. What do you think of such a pitch for T20 games, especially a knockout, which is like the showpiece for a World Cup and their batters are just fighting for survival in AT20 game. Sadhguru. I don't want to get myself into trouble, but obviously, and I don't want to come across as in, you know, bitter or sour grapes. But that's not the pitch that you want to have a a match, a semi final of a World Cup on. Plain and simple. You know, it should be a fair contest. I'm not saying it should be flat completely with no spin and no C movement, But I'm saying you should have. You shouldn't have batters worrying about going forward in the ball flying over their head. You should be confident in, in in in their foot movement and being able to hit through the line or or use their skills, their skills. T20 is about attacking and about, you know, scoring runs and and taking wickets, not looking to survive. If the opposition bowled well and get you get to a position where they bowl very, very well and and and and it's through skill, you know, then that that's that's fine to them. And then it's about adapting to that. But once the ball starts misbehaving and rolling and if if we had bowled a straight to South Africa had, I think you would have seen a very, very interesting second-half as well. So South Africa bowled well, use the conditions and showed shut up, shut up, boys. What is capable of but just didn't go away tonight. Thank you. Jonathan, can you tell us a few lessons that you learned throughout the tournament and how can you improve your middle order since you have been struggling for the last couple of years and we have seen couple of times in this tournament too. In the last question, what is your message to the people of Afghanistan back home and around the the world about the the performance Afghanistan have played in this tournament? Thank you. What have I learnt The the I think we've learnt we can defend. We can defend most totals give if we give ourselves enough runs and give our bowlers enough to bowl at. I've learnt that we need to adjust more with the bat if there aren't exactly flat wickets. I've learnt that we've got some very, very talented players and some, and you know, the fielding I think has been pretty good as well. Our fielding standards have improved immensely. So and I think the players realise the hard work that they're putting in is actually starting to show off, show off, but also starting to show up in their matches. And so yeah, there's there's a few other things that, you know, I'll be chatting to the players behind closed doors about. Sorry, what was the second part of your question? I no, I mean the, the middle order batting, pardon, struggling. Middle order batting is struggling. Yeah, that's what I said. We got to find batters who can bat in the middle order and T20 cricket. I I have an idea of who they are and the players that are going to be doing that. So we'll be working really hard in the next, the next short term to get those players in playing T20 cricket and ODI cricket. And the message is thank you for the support. You know, it's been a a great, a great tournament so far, a great ride with the players and hope that we've inspired, you know, young kids to pick up a a bat and a ball and play cricket and, and want to play for their nation and, and hopefully the the everybody's proud of the side. Jonathan commiserations just as the tournament is now officially over for you all. Can you sum up the impact of Dwayne Bravo on this team? Dwayne's been a Dwayne's been immense and and a great guy to have her on the the dressing room. Always calm rubbed off on the bowlers and always willing to chat to to the bowlers and batters as well. Very generous with his time and, and his passion for this side. And I'd only ever played against Dwayne really before. And I, I, I think he's a, a cracking coach. And you know, I love working with them. And, you know, cricket's in good hands if they're people like Dwayne coaching the game and coaching the skills and, and sharing their experience. So, you know, I wish him well wherever he goes and coaches next. And, you know, I certainly hope our paths cross as soon as possible. He's been brilliant and it's been great to have him with his professional attitude. And I think that's certainly rubbed off, rubbed off on the players and they've seen what it takes to be at the best and play the amount of cricket that he has. Cheers. Thank you very much.